This invention relates to commercial refrigerator doors of the general type used to provide access to the interior of built-in refrigerator compartments of the kind used in grocery stores, for example, and more particularly to a refrigerator door structure which may be individually constructed, packaged, shipped and installed.
Commercial refrigerator doors of this type generally comprise glass panels mounted in metal frames for use in connection with refrigerated display facilities which may be built-in in large grocery stores or supermarkets or may be self-contained refrigerator cabinets. Appropriate shelving is generally provided behind the glass panel refrigerator doors on which goods such as milk, cold drinks, perishable goods or frozen foods, for example, may be displayed for sale. The customer selects the goods desired by looking through the glass panel of the door, and removing the goods from the refrigerator. A closure means is generally provided biasing the door to its closed position in order to automatically close the door after it has been opened by the customer.
Since the refrigerated compartments on which the refrigerator doors are used are maintained below normal ambient temperature and often below freezing temperature, the doors generally utilize a plurality of spaced panes of glass with dead air spaces therebetween in order to provide thermal insulation. The metal frames containing the glass panels may be provided with electrical heaters to prevent the condensation of moisture or the formation of frost on the frame and in many cases the glass may also be electrically heated.
A number of doors are generally provided in the opening of a refrigerated compartment in order to enable a customer to obtain access to a particular part of the refrigerated compartment where the desired goods are located. This minimizes the loss of cold air when access to the compartment is desired. In addition, depending on the location of the refrigerated compartment, refrigerator doors with either left-hand or right-hand opening action may be desirable for the convenience of the customer.
Since the refrigerator doors have considerable weight, it has been the practice in the prior art to construct metal frames in various sizes dimensioned to fit standardized openings through the wall of refrigerated compartments and to mount a plurality of refrigerator doors on each such frame with the number of doors varying according to the particular requirements. This has complicated the manufacture, packaging, shipping and installation of refrigerator doors.
The openings through refrigerated compartments are of a number of different sizes and the number of doors required for various refrigerated compartments may vary. The necessity to provide both left-hand and right-hand opening of the doors in different installations further complicates the manufacture of units suitable for installation.
Packaging and shipment of a large frame containing a number of refrigerator doors is difficult and the danger of breakage or damage is high due to the size, weight and unusual shape of such package. The number of different sizes of frames with different numbers of doors opening in both the right-hand and left-hand fashion which must be stocked in order to meet demand represents a considerable investment in finished goods.
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved refrigerator door structure which may be manufactured, packaged, shipped and installed individually in whatever number is required for a particular opening through the wall of a refrigerated compartment.
It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved refrigerator door structure which does not require a mounting frame.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improved refrigerator door structure which may be mounted for either left-hand or right-hand opening action.